Lakewood officials and veterans gathered Monday to rededicate the Veterans Memorial Plaza at Del Valle Park after a six-month overhaul as part of an annual ceremony honoring 43 local residents who died in the Vietnam War.

Mayor Jeff Wood pointed out to a crowd of hundreds attending that the city was founded by veterans as one of the largest planned communities in the post World War II-era.

“They built a complete community here,” said Wood. “But as busy as they got, they never forgot a value that was formative in their lives, and that was an appreciation for the sacrifices made before them in defense of their nation and their freedom.”

The centerpiece of the $845,050 makeover of Veterans Memorial Plaza is Lakewood’s decommissioned Marine Corps Douglas F3D Skyknight. As part of the project, the aircraft was refurbished, and the area it was made to resemble the flight deck of the USS Intrepid, an Essex class aircraft carrier where the plane was once stationed.

Other features of the redone memorial include computerized lighting that will make it look like the jet is taking off from the carrier at night and more than 1,500 commemorative brick pavers honoring military personnel.

World War II veteran Walter Bynum, 92, watched the two-hour ceremony from a wheelchair, his legs covered with a blanket to ward off the chill air.

Bynum, a 52-year resident of Lakewood, loaded bombs into the B-24 Liberators of the 449th Bomb Group, part of the 15th Air Force, which attacked targets in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe from Italy.

Accompanied by his daughter, Rayma Powers, Bynum said Memorial Day brings back a jumble of memories from his youth.

“Some of them you want to forget,” he said. “Some of them you can never forget.”

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